The state’s recovery plan to save the aeronautical sector, hit hard by the health crisis, is awaited firmly by Airbus employees.
Neither euphoria nor anxiety. Yesterday, at the exit of the emblematic Saint-Eloi site, Minimes district, in Toulouse, the oldest production site of the Airbus group, the announcement of a next state recovery plan, in favor of aeronautics ((our edition yesterday) is taken with a mixed feeling of relief and concern.
This € 1 billion investment plan to rescue the European aircraft manufacturer is supposed to bring back to life an economy badly hit by the Covid-19 crisis. What to put balm at the heart of the “blue collar” of all this aeronautical sector which weighs nearly 100,000 jobs in Toulouse and its region. “This is the plan of hope …” breathes Rahim, 33, an employee of a subcontracting company in Saint-Eloi and responsible for checking the tightness of the reactor masts produced on this site. “After a layoff in our team, we hope that it will boost the machine because production has dropped. We prefer to remain realistic because we do not know if this windfall will make us make up for what we have lost. We are directly concerned by possible dismissal measures. We do not know who it may fall on. In this context, we expect a lot from this plan while remaining lucid. “
Beside him is Quentin, 27, a workshop colleague in the same position. “I was not very aware of this announcement. Since this epidemic, production has dropped significantly and our hours have changed to adapt to the new health regulations. Whatever the amount of this plan, it can help us” , he says, with a smile that speaks volumes about expectations.
“Temporary crisis”
Rather optimistic, Julien, a young worker of 21, is not worried about the future of the group. “This plan of 1 billion euros can give a big breath of fresh air to an entire economy and in particular to the region. The airlines have suffered a lot since this crisis but I think it’s temporary. Everything will return to normal “, considers this employee specializing in the assembly of parts on all types of aircraft, in Saint-Eloi. “By saving aeronautics, the whole economy will start off on the right foot! We know that on our side there are efforts to be made and compromises to be found to avoid diving. So I’m not worried about Airbus. Even if we do not really know what can happen in the coming months. I would be more worried about small businesses in the sector and about outsourcing whose jobs are threatened “, adds Julien, hired at Airbus for 3 years.
More delicate situation for other employees. A young temporary worker also leaves the factory at lunchtime. “My contract ends in December 2020, after two and a half years of work, here, in production. It will not be renewed because of the health crisis and the economic impact on the company, she said, not really reassured about her professional future. In the meantime, we have to deal with periods of partial unemployment. “
24 deliveries
in May
Against all odds, figures for Airbus deliveries released last night were a little shaky in May. Last month, the Toulouse aircraft manufacturer managed to deliver 24 aircraft, ten more than in April. It is certainly much less than the 81 aircraft handed over to the companies in May 2019 but, who would have thought that in full confinement Airbus could have increased its deliveries? At the same time, the aircraft manufacturer obviously did not register any orders but did not have to undergo cancellation either.
Airbus sales teams are at full speed to allow deliveries while airlines are doing everything to save cash in order to survive. Export credit, which guarantees the loan made by an airline company to a bank to finance an airplane, is in great demand today. “It is often the only way to complete a delivery”, says one at Blagnac headquarters. In its aeronautical recovery plan announced next Tuesday, the state will also strengthen this system.G.B.
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